Road sweeper paddle conveyor

ABSTRACT

A street sweeper vehicle debris elevator is rotatable in a shroud and comprises arm means carried by a rotary shaft, the arm means carrying paddle means operable to displace debris received from a rotary broom into a receptacle, the paddle means pivotally carried outwardly of the shaft to rotate relative to the arm means in response to impact with large debris so that the paddle means may pass over such debris allowing continued shaft rotation.

United, States Patent [1 1 Oberdank ROAD SWEEPER PADDLE CONVEYOR [75] Inventor: Jack O. Oberdank, Corona, Calif.

[73] Assignee: Wayne Manufacturing Company, Pomona, Calif.

22 Filed: Mar. 9, 1972 211 App]. No.: 233,140

[52] US. Cl. 15/83 [51] Int. Cl E0lh H04 [58] Field of Search 15/83-86, 79,

15/340; 37/43 R, 43 D, 43 L; 171/63 X; 214/83, 83.3; 198/211, 128

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 876,727 l/1908 Pevey 15/83 UX 2,244,848 6/1941 Olds et a1 15/83 [451 Apr. 23, 1974 3,668,730 6/1972 Scharmann 15/83 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 501,386 4/1920 France 15/83 Primary Examiner-Edward L. Roberts Attorney, Agent, or Firm-C. E. Tripp 5 7 ABSTRACT A street sweeper vehicle debris elevator is rotatable in a shroud and comprises arm means carried by a rotary shaft, the arm means carrying paddle means operable to displace debris received from a rotary broom into a receptacle, the paddle means pivotally carried outwardly of the shaft to rotate relative to the arm means in response to impact with large debris so that the paddle means may pass over such debris allowing continued shaft rotation.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to debris displacement in or by road sweepers, and more specifically concerns the accommodation of debris conveyor systems to large debris encountered in the sweeper path.

In the past, conveyors have employed squeegees traveling adjacent shrouds to convey debris toward a dirt box on the sweeper vehicle. Such squeegees have been made flexible, and as a result, stiff debris tended to become lodged between the squeegee and shroud, requiring shut-down and removal of the clogging material. One approach to solving this problem is described in US. Pat. application Ser. No. 69,853 filed Sept. 4, 1970 by Garred N. Scharmann et al, and now US. Pat. No. 3,668,730. As there described, the squeegee is mounted on a flexible elastomer arm or arms which assume U-shape upon impact of the squeegee with large debris, therebyallowing passage of the squeege over the debris and continued rotation of the conveyor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a major object of the invention to further improve upon and over prior road sweeper conveyor systems, to the end that debris conveying reliability is enhanced, and at the same time adequate provision is made for accommodation of the conveyor to large, stiff debris so as to prevent clogging and shut-down.

Basically, the invention is embodied in an elevator comprising a rotatably driven shaft sized to be carried by the sweeper vehicle and to extendlaterally in a shroud in spaced relation to a pick-up broom; arm structure carried by the shaft; and paddle means carried by the arm means to be rotated in closely spaced relation to the shroud for displacing therein debris received from the broom and to be directedinto the receptacle, the paddle means pivotably carried to rotate relative to the arm means in response to impact with large debris in the path of paddle rotation, whereby the paddle means may pass relatively over such large debris as would otherwise tend to clog the conveyor, the shaft and conveyor thus being permitted continued rotation.

Additional objects and advantages include the open spacing of the pivoted paddle means from the shaft to permit debris passage through that space; the pivotal connection of the paddle to openly spaced arm sections; the use of multiple pivoted paddles as will be described; the provision of a pivoted paddle comprising a relatively stiff blade and a flexible insert protruding radially to travel adjacent the shroud interior; and the provision of the conveyor forwardly of a pick-up broom and within a shroud that returns debris back over the broom to a dirt box.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention, as well as the details of an illustrative embodiment, will be more fully understood from the following description and drawings, in which:

DRAWING DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 is a vertical section showing one embodiment of the invention, in a road sweeper;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary showing of the elevator seen in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary frontal view of the FIG. 2 elevator; and

FIG. 4 is a view like FIG. 2, but showing a paddle in pivoted condition to enable debris passage.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A road sweeper is illustrated in FIG. 1 to comprise a vehicle body generally indicated at 10 carried by a pair of rear wheels 11 and one or a pair of front wheels 12 connected to the body 10 as by a pair of arms 13. The sweeper has a pick-up broom 14 power driven in the direction indicated by the arrow 9 to sweep debris from the road surace 15. Debris is swept forwardly of the broom at 16 into the conveyor or elevator shroud generally indicated at 17 and which includes a lower inclined portion 18 defining with the broom the clearance at 16 and continuing in its arcuate extent 19 to a rearwardly inclined top extent 20 which overlies the elevator to direct the debris displaced by the elevator rearwardly into dirt chamber or receptacle 21 defined by the Walls 22, 23, 24 and 25.

The invention is primarily concerned with the elevator generally indicated at 26 and rotably driven in the direction of the arrow 26a within the arcuate extent 19 of the shroud. As best illustrated by the sectional enlargements of FIGS. 2 and 3, the elevator 26 is shown to comprise a driven shaft 27 journaled as by self aligning bearings 28 within the side walls 30 of the shroud or housing. As schematically illustrative, the shaft may be driven by an hydraulic motor 31.

In accordance with the invention, paddle means is carried by shaft driven arm means to be rotated in closely spaced relation to the shroud for displacing therein debris received from the broom and to be directed into the receptacle; further, the paddle means is pivotally carried outwardly of the shaft and its axis 32 to rotate relative to the arm means in response to impact with large debris in the pathof paddle rotation, whereby the paddle means may pass relatively over such large debris to allow continued shaft rotation;

In theillustrated embodiment, the paddle means includes at least one paddle 33 extending generally parallel to shaft 27 and in generally openly spaced relation to the shaft, whereby inwardly located debris may pass through that space 34. As shown, two such paddles may be provided at opposite sides of the shaft, each paddle extending laterally and carried by a pair of laterally openly spaced arm sections 35 to which the paddles have pivotal connection as at 36. Such connection may be provided by pivot pins 37 carried by arm sections 35 and journaled in paddle tongues 38, or vice versa. Arm sections 35 also block lateral displacement of the tongues 38 and paddles, relative to the shaft. Each paddle 33 may advantageously include a relative stiff blade 39, as for example is defined by a metallic channel member, and a flexible insert 40 retained by and projecting generally radially outwardly from the blade along the length thereof for travel in close adjacency to the inner side or wall of the curved shroud 19. Insert 40 may comprise a brush or bristles and serve to scavenge dust and dirt particles, whereas the blade may convey relatively lightweight larger material such as leaves, papers and trash indicated at 41 in FIG. 2.

In operation, as the conveyor rotates, centrifugal force tends to hold the paddles to extend radially outwardly as seen in FIG. 2, for normal trash conveying purposes. If an object (such as a bottle or stone) indicated at 45 in FIG. 4 is too heavy to be conveyed upwardly in the housing enters the elevator, the paddle or paddles impacting the object are immediately pivoted rearwardly and toward the shaft to pass over the object without damage to the paddle. Cyclic spinning of the paddle about pivot axis 46 is provided by the paddle suspension.

I claim:

1. For use in a sweeper vehicle having a rotary pickup broom, and a shroud extending to direct debris into a recep-tacle, a debris elevator of the type comprising a. a rotatably driven elevator shaft sized to be carried by the vehicle and to extend laterally in the shroud in spaced relation to the broom,

b. laterally spaced arm means carried by the shaft,

and

c. paddle means pivotally carried by the arm means and parallel to the shaft to be rotated thereby in closely spaced relation to the shroud for displacing therein debris received from the broom and to be directed into the receptacle, the paddle means being disposed radially outwardly of the shaft to pivot relative to the arm means in response to impact with large debris in the path of paddle rotation, whereby the paddle means may pass relatively over such large debris allowing continued shaft rotation; the improvement wherein said paddle means includes a paddle having laterally spaced, inwardly projecting tongues, there being laterally spaced pivots for pivotally connecting the paddle tongues to their associated arm means, and there being an unobstructedly open space extending radially between the shaft and the paddle, said open space also extending laterally between one arm section and its pivot near one end of the paddle and another arm section and its pivot near the opposite end of the paddle. 

1. For use in a sweeper vehicle having a rotary pickup broom, and a shroud extending to direct debris into a recep-tacle, a debris elevator of the type coMprising a. a rotatably driven elevator shaft sized to be carried by the vehicle and to extend laterally in the shroud in spaced relation to the broom, b. laterally spaced arm means carried by the shaft, and c. paddle means pivotally carried by the arm means and parallel to the shaft to be rotated thereby in closely spaced relation to the shroud for displacing therein debris received from the broom and to be directed into the receptacle, the paddle means being disposed radially outwardly of the shaft to pivot relative to the arm means in response to impact with large debris in the path of paddle rotation, whereby the paddle means may pass relatively over such large debris allowing continued shaft rotation; the improvement wherein said paddle means includes a paddle having laterally spaced, inwardly projecting tongues, there being laterally spaced pivots for pivotally connecting the paddle tongues to their associated arm means, and there being an unobstructedly open space extending radially between the shaft and the paddle, said open space also extending laterally between one arm section and its pivot near one end of the paddle and another arm section and its pivot near the opposite end of the paddle. 